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Kobolds
Introduction to the Kobold Species, and their Origin The Kobolds, by their very nature, have spread across all of the world, from the distant snows of the north through every mountain range, chasm and infested jungle, much like the common black rat, but with yet more of that bizarre hardiness inherent to them. No natural barrier has stopped the creatures in their endless quest to make a nuisance of themselves, no insurmountable obstacle can prevent their scrabbling claws, and no vault is sufficient to keep them from its contents. The Kobold Species, in a word, is stubborn. In ancient times, it is believed, they emerged from the runoff of The Hammerer's forge, upon which The Beast stepped upon it and growled in annoyance at the sting it inflicted upon its foot, before casting it out into the world. The kobolds, in this way, are the accidental creations of the gods, considered as little but waste by their forger, and as an active annoyance by the only other god willing to bear the brunt of their babbling. Kobold Culture The kobolds themselves maintain a thousand different stories of their own birth, most prominently that all of them emerge from the cast off scales of the moon, which is, in their belief, a draconic creature of immense size. The more reptilian species take it as a point of pride that they in fact were born of the shimmering rays of the sun on the desert sands, although almost all other races discount this as fable. Kobold religion, insofar as it exists, is carried out by assorted shamans and mystics, seldom capable of true magic, only of tinkering with shambles and other such trinkets. This trickery wins them much respect among the cunning, and awe among the dull, who, in combination, make up all of kobold society. These shamans often become chieftains, but beyond this simple tribal structure, kobolds seldom organize in any structure, with the simple system of communal ownership dominating their underground warrens and above ground hovel-towns alike. Kobolds are almost unique among civilized races in that they have no independant concept of marriage, and seem to possess a universal naivete in all matters regarding their own reproduction, likely due to the amalgamation of mutation behind each individual. Kobolds in romantic partnerships often share a burrow, and will often be extremely devoted to one another, despite the lack of a legal vow. Kobolds rear their young, in warrens at least, almost entirely communally, with an alarmingly high infant mortality rate coming as a result of their natural clumsiness and the harsh conditions in which they live. Beyond this, two major components make up the universal aspects of kobold culture. The first is the vital importance of storytelling. Stories make up a vast part of kobold life, since the species has no sophisticated written alphabet, and therefore storytelling is the only way to teach the younger generation of the mismatched and scattered histories and myths of the kobold folk. The experiences of former kobolds are among the favourite tales around campfires, adored by kobolds of all ages, to whom it is almost always a fascinating occurrence to hear of the nigh-mythical exploits of Vosg Slip-shackle, or of Murran the Penny-Headed. These stories are often warped descriptions of actual events, made into parables to teach young kobolds how to survive in the harsh world in which they dwell. Theft is a glorified thing in most warrens and settlements, as many more primitive kobold tribes do not understand the attachment of other peoples to fine things, or simply see their cunning exploits as vengeance for half-remembered violence in distant history. The second is the hoard. Perhaps inherited from some draconic ancestor, or through decades of servitude to draconic races, the kobolds have adopted the practice of hoarding valuable or shining goods from their travels in a central area of their settlement, usually surrounded by warming flames to ensure they shine, even in the deepest warrens. The hoard is a mark of prestige for a settlement, and thus for each kobold of the settlement. To acquire a new valuable for the great central pile is to go down in history, usually in a way much more permanent than each kobold life. The hoard is the center of kobold life, and of many settlements, with even more urban kobolds often constructing hoards in cellars, or in whatever space is available. Many kobold languages exist, all verbal in nature, unique to each tribe, as colloquialisms and pidgin-phrases drawn from other languages infect each in different ways. Many of these speeches are utterly alien to the untouched tongue, who cannot pronounce the slight inflection needed for exact meanings to be understood. Oddly, Kobolds, as a result of the delicacy in their language, are often wonderful poets, when taught civilized languages, though their singing is often lacking. In many despotic courts, kobolds serve as translators, their natural wit allowing them to quickly manage new languages and to interpret inflection and tone startlingly quickly. Kobold Attributes Diminuitive and weak, it is the kobold's prodigious habit for good fortune, their babbling cunning, and their immense rate of reproduction that keeps it as a constant fixture in every slum-town. The only other thing that can be said to be definitive of all kinds of kobolds is in the massive divergence displayed within the species. Some varieties are akin to rodents, with patches and blotches of fur and a dog-like snout, while others resemble aardvarks, and still more resemble a strange mixture of the two. Two kobolds of different tribes will be almost irreconcilable as the same species, but nonetheless, their balling mannerisms and culture remain similar, and they may freely interbreed over the generations, keeping them within the same species. The kobold way of war differs dramatically between the different groups, but suffice to say, with a universally unimpressive physique, placing them as small as half a dwarf, and no taller than that dwarf's cap in the case of aberrations. Their muscles are not strong, and though their thin scales or hides protect them from small scrapes, a true blow will often sunder them in one slash, if it should land. For that is the true combat ability of the kobold. Agility. Their small bodies dart supernaturally away from blows, their aberrant joints bending and stretching easily to escape the mace or the sword. Some species are born with fangs and claws, mostly among the furred varieties, but the cruelest natural weapon possessed by any breed of kobold is to be found in the sand-skittering kobolds often referred to as Pangolin-like. These kobolds possess long burrowing claws, which often cut deeply into the flesh of livestock or the poorly armoured, making these creatures, despite their small size, surprisingly lethal. Kobolds are further unique in that they bear children in one of two ways, either through the production of eggs (Oviparous) or of live young (Viviparous). The young come of age approximately a year after birth or hatching, this immensely quick rate of maturity helping to counter the dangers of kobold life, especially when coupled with the massive litters produced by kobold couples, which can number in advance of eight live young, or twelve eggs, though many will not survive. Kobolds will rarely live beyond their twelfth year, but this is not a hard limit upon them, simply the average derived from all manners of death. If a kobold reaches middle age, it is likely to go on living to be gnarled and old, as disease rarely plays havoc upon their kind as it does with others, with the most ancient elders seeing their twentieth years and beyond. Subraces of the Kobold Species Kobolds as a race mutate and shift forms constantly. A new generation will yield a hundred thousand new traits, and in the cutthroat world of the warren, only the strongest and most adaptive survive. Kobolds in the desert will grow lean and scaled, clawed hands able to dig deep enough to find water, and eyes covered by new, sand-proof eyelids. This is their true secret, their one major glory, that they may survive almost any condition, no matter how harsh. Category:Race